Hi. Welcome to Epiblast! The name is partly inspired by PZ Myers famous blog, Pharyngula partly by the fact that the epiblast, a simple tissue in a developing embryo (labelled 5), gives rise, eventually, to virtually everything inside our body. It's a metaphor for how some of our simple, fundamental ideas vastly affect the other aspects of our life. This blog covers my interests; usually science, medicine, atheism, religion. I might sneak in a bit of philosophy or magic if I feel like it. I warn you, the discussion gets uncomfortable and I come to conclusions which are unconventional, maybe contradictory to yours. Don't go crying to someone if you are offended.

People have been chiding me to write about this for a while. When told that I identify myself as a Hindu Atheist, one of the milder reaction has been "what the hell is that?" It's almost like telling people, "guess what, I'm a married bachelor! What fun". It's actually not as bad as you think. The two world views actually fit pretty well.

Hinduism is tricky to define, but the process is fun. You have probably known a hindu (not as in Numbers 31:18 ). She (because I'm a guy =P ) might have an altar at home, adhere to the caste system, believe in re-incarnation and refrain from eating meat (and frown at beef, perhaps). That is what most people think is a typical hindu. And they might be fair in their judgement. Most Hindus I know follow that pattern. But I know other Hindus as well, some who eat beef, some of mixed (or no) caste those without an altar at home (though they still believe in a higher power). And they are no less hindus for what their beliefs. The problem you might have in figuring out what a hindu is, is not new. Scholars (mostly colonial) have argued about it for centuries. Before outsiders appeared, there almost wasn't a need for explicitly defining hinduism and most people were pretty happy identifying themselves by their caste or tradition or worship (like vaishnava, worshipping Vishnu or Saiva, worshipping Shiva).

Persians first used the word Hindu to denote those living beyond the Sindhu (cos they had a lisp?) So it was pretty much a nationality. Somewhere around the 18th Century we see a shift such that the word excludes those following the abrahamic faiths and also sikhs, jains and buddhists. So you see it never has really been an insider/official thing. Which has led alot of people to say things like "Hinduism is not a religion, its a way of life" (this guy says it on video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHSAqYFBcJQ ). Don't say that when I'm having a drink because I will snort it out of my nose. Christians, Muslims and Jews says that all the time to. A lot of time theology can be tied to ethinicity. And it can influence many aspects like diet, attire and sex life.

Defining what an atheist is can be trickier cos alot of us may not have openly atheistic friends. Without looking at Wikipedia, I would define an atheist as someone who does not believe in a creator deity or any deity for that matter. Quite simple. You can go into specifics like whether its implicit, explicit, strong or weak atheism. For the record, I'm a strong atheist. I hope to get really physically strong someday as well. A lot of times when people attack atheism, they are often attacking either philosophical materialism (meaning rejecting the supernatural), hedonism or another religion. So be careful what exactly you're against.

So how does atheism and hinduism mix? Well, it does and does not. The Sankhya and Mimamsa schools of thought are orthodox (aastika) schools of thought yet they do not posit or in fact even reject the notion of a creator god. So on a level, there is a possible compatibility. There is also an unorthodox (naastika) school of thought, often grouped together with buddhism and jainism, called Chaarvaak. My philosophy would be very congruent with whatever we know of that ideology. As of today, the Chaarvaaka, as a segment of Hinduism is no more as it died out sometime around 15th Century BC. What we know of it is only from discussions about its ideas in the commentaries of other philosophers contemporary to that age, and it is sometimes caricatured.
Hinduism, as a whole, is a complex body of philosophies from animism/shamanism to monism, dualism and even materialism. Atheism is simply the rejection of a particular idea. Meaning that you can adopt certain ideas from hinduism (while identifying with the culture) and reject some. In my case, I reject the idea that supernatural entities exist. As a result there is no real contradiction in "hindu atheist". You might call this cherry picking but hindus (and people of other faiths do it all the time) They often reject what they don't like (or things which appear backward) so I just go a step further.

Now that you have an idea of how things fit, you'll probably be wondering what kind of principles form my worldview. I call them beliefs, even though some are probably empirically proveable.

Beliefs.

1. All beliefs may be subject to change in the light of new evidence.
2. For all practical purposes, we do not exist prior to birth or after death
3. Being a human, to me human life is of greater importance relative to that of other animals
4. Nonetheless, being a part of nature, we ought to preserve and protect life and not unnecessarily kill
5. Seeking pleasure and avoiding pain is instinctual but being equipped with reason, we should be able to look and act beyond it.
6. Humans are a mixed bag of selflessness and selfishness, compassion and cruetly and lust among other things
7. Science is one of the best ways we have of knowing the world around us.
8. Religion may be helpful to an extent, but like potent medicine, it must be properly applied.
9. The aims of human life are Dharma (doing one's duty, being a contributing member of society etc), Artha (acquiring resources/ wealth, seeking security), Kaama (the pursuit of pleasure) and Moksha (the pursuit of liberation, I re-interpret that as becoming mature and understanding that happiness is a basic state, not something acheived by externalities)
10. A class system is a natural result of human attitudes and it may be useful in some respects. As such I do not entirely reject the "caste system", just certain aspects. This does not mean people should not have equal opportunities for various acheivements
11. Sex is fun. And its ok to pursue it between consenting adults. Just be aware of the possible social, emotional, biological and ten commandment consequences.

I think 11 is a nice number to stop at. The rest are very much social beliefs and for another discussions. Any questions? Shoot!

[update : This has been a ridiculously popular article. Even now, I'll be adding some stuff to it soon so expect an update. In the meanwhile, a friend wrote to me with some disagreements, take a look at it here]
Facebookers: check out the rest of the blog here.

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I recently found your blog and I was happy to see another 'Hindu' atheist on the blogosphere. It's refreshing to see bloggers coming from a Hindu background challenging Hinduism or religion even though carvaka probably was one of the earliest.

I also agree with your observations. Point 9 was well interpreted although 10 could be confusing to many.

Anyway I will keep following your blog. I also plan to read your post on evolution as I had a debate sometime ago with some christians about it.

Nice post. I can relate to much of it. I taught yoga yoga for 15 years.Is till have all of these mantras and bhajans dancing around in my head, but can no longer believe in the supernatural. I find much in common with those called religious naturalist.

You are amazing! Having been surrounded by all these religious Christians around me, and trying to explain to them what I mean when I say I am a Hindu Atheist... actually takes more of a toll than you would imagine.Finally someone has put it in the right words!

I have been viewing some atheist channels in youtube lately and I found most of them either say something about Christianity or Islam or Judaism. In order to find something about what atheist have to say about Hindusim, I searched for Hindu atheists and found your page.

I was born in a Hindu culture and like most Hindus, I have attended various purans and other religious gatherings. I know many stories and know the message they are trying to deliver.

Unfortunately, it is not as nice and clean as you are presenting via your blog. Hinduism also comes attached with all the bells and whistles that come with other religions. Also, there are numerous forms of Hinduism and all of them differ with one another in some form or other. To most, the forms other than what one believes in is just as wrong as a different religion altogether.

With these kinds of separation within Hinduism, it is not clean in itself to start with but in one way these variations might be better to help people understand religious tolerance, which is unimaginable in Christianity, Judaism or Islam. But still, many schools of Hinduism portray other religions or even some other schools as the work of devil or foolish for that matter.

The basic problems of all religions are still there in almost all schools of Hinduism, sometimes even worse than other religions:- belief that some invisible dieties in the sky can control us- crimes in the name of religion- cheating in the name of religion by spreading unnecessary fear- people having to pay their hard earned money in various forms to those who contribute very less to Humanity- class systems which makes some people superior or inferior to others because of their birth or if you believe in the older version or some schools, due to the work their profession- people spending time, money and effort to please the invisible creatures who can make things go right for them- thinking people of other religions as inherently bad people- people being in favor of 2000-5000 year old solutions to problems of all sorts in society, morality, education, medicine etc. and neglecting modern solutions because either the creators are devil or the benefits of modern technology are short term

You or anyone else for that matter, accepting modern science or other schools of thoughts do not make Hinduism all better at once. It is just another religion and way of living of ancient pre-historic forest dwellers and should be eradicated for a better society.

Thanks for your comment. The only reason my post might give you the impression that Hinduism is a "clean" religion (which I find an interesting choice of words) is because what I have presented is MY version, in which I have REJECTED ideas and practices which I disagree with. So its not the mainstream stuff. It's filtered.

@YTbelief that some invisible dieties in the sky can control us????--aint it the same in all religion Christianity,Islam,Judaism ??moreover in Hinduism God is not considered to control all but law of Karma is applied

- crimes in the name of religion...---is there no crime in name of country,race,language,money????

- cheating in the name of religion by spreading unnecessary fear.what about Cheating people through advertisement,financial deals,also in name of science?????

- people having to pay their hard earned money in various forms to those who contribute very less to Humanity--don't people pay to govt who are corrupt,many so called NGO money do not reach the needy people???

class systems which makes some people superior or inferior to others because of their birth or if you believe in the older version or some schools, due to the work their profession....---Don't the modern white people do same?? what about Sunni& shiachristian and Jews????

thinking people of other religions as inherently bad people....--Aint same concept followed in west vs east ,white vs black????

Although i do not need permission for being atheist.. but i admire Hinduism for having so many school of thoughts,tolerant and resiliencepeople can be astik(believer) nastik(non believer) and also viprit bhakti(god hater) and still attain moksha(liberation).

Hi .......i am a proud hindu athesist.........i believe in hindu culture.....it needed to be protected....i disbelieve in god and idol worship.....but i believe hinduism or hindu culture is the only religion which allo free thinking and sanskrit the sacred language of hindu has the most atheistic literature......any one know about hindu atheism pls share with me....any books written by any of our culture leaders.....

it is ridiculous to believe a Hindu can also be an atheist. It is like someone who believes in Nazism says that Stalin was a good man.

The essence of Hinduism is trickery, deceit, superstitions, varna, caste, rituals, sacrifices(continue to this day), GODS, irrationality and i mean A LOT OF IRRATIONALITY, belief in maya, illusion and what not.Further there is no morality IN ANY of the Hindu scriptures be it shruti, smriti , myths, puranas or whatever that means.

The Atheist movement we see in the Western countries(it always starts in west) is all about Rationality, Morality and most importantly Science. In this atheist movement there is an element of morality and it is not materialism. Materialism is a propaganda used by religionists against this Atheist movement.

I dont know who Carvaka was. The bottom line is that what we call as Hinduism never considered his philosophy as important and even if it existed all i know is that it died a quick death.

To call the Carvaka school as a part of Hinduism and then to claim yourself as an Atheist Hindu(or whatever that means) is one another means of deception so widely a trait of the entire pantheon of beliefs in Hinduism.

So therefore I dont think there is any meaning in this word of HINDU ATHEISM....Either you are Hindu or an Atheist but not both.

I think you missed the point that a) hinduism is decentralised. b) hinduism is not strictly defined and c) hindus (and others) around the world do not follow hinduism in its entirety but cherry pick what they follow.

I use the same reasoning to pick out elements of Hinduism which I follow and agree with which are compatible with materialistic atheism, I do not see a contradiction because, I've already rejected a lot of the contradictory stuff.

Nice post, but the classification you have defined - 'One who follows the Indian/Hindu culture but doesnt believe in creator/God idea' hardly makes sense.. Every country has a culture.. each culture has two parts; religious part and non-religious part.. (I believe you are referring to the non-religious part in your 'culture' definition..) In India that religion would be say Hinduism.. in USA/Europe it would be Christianity.. Atheists in those countries never call themselves as 'Christian Atheists' even those they subscribe actively to the non-religious part of their largely Christian country's culture.. theres absolutely nothing wrong abt that approach.. They openly disassociate themselves from their religion and just call themselves 'Atheists'.. I suggest you boldly come out of the Hindu fold and call yourself an 'Indian Atheist' atleast :)

My personal experience is if you follow Science, evolution (in the likes of Richard Dawkins) and if you are a rational thinker, very quickly most facts abt religion appear to be a sham and being an Atheist is just a natural progression.. For me it was easier since I was born in an Indian religion with strong Atheistic elements in it..

Also I believe this whole saying 'Hinduism is not a religion but a way of life' is wrong.. Thats just an illusion.. With the exception of long dead 'Charvaka' philosophy, rest of Hinduism is theistic with most schools subscribing to Vedas which talk a lot abt Gods.. The illusion is because of large fragmentation of Hinduism overtime.. thousands of Gods and hundreds of schools, cults etc.. Its so fragmented that it ceases to appear as a well knit religion.. On contrary other major world religions like Christianity, Islam etc are less fragmented..

I disagree with you on your point that a hindu-atheist is akin to a married-bachelor. Atheism has had a ancient, albeit muted, presence in Hindu scripture. That set aside, on a practical level I do think it is indeed possible to be a hindu atheist. Like it or not, in society, we all effect the thought process of each other. Atheists are affected by religious connotations, and religious people are indeed effected by debates against religion, science, etc. Narrowing this down, the zeitgeist of India effects most Indians one way or the other.

So with that in mind, I can comfortably say that Hindu theology does indeed effect my thought process and outlook towards life even as an atheist. I am a strict vegetarian. Although it initially stemmed from inherited habits, now I view it from purely a ethical point of view. Like it or not, I am indeed aware that my hindu background has somehow defined that choice along with many others. So in that sense I am a cultural hindu. Also, I loosely believe in the concept of Karma and dharma. Of course I don't believe that some god is keeping score in the sky, but rather I believe in some vague sense that goodwill begets goodwill and that I have certain duties as a member of society. So in conclusion, I entirely think that it is possible to be a hindu atheist. And in all likelihood, many Indian atheists do retain some hindu beliefs, like it or not.

To say that he is wrong about Hinduism's generality with regard to belief in gods/God/etc. is to immediately remove yourself from this particular conversation. It is immediately obvious with even a minimum of research that the origins, definitions, and requirements of Hinduism are one degree of freedom after the next, even from very early stages in it's consolidation (earlier half of the first century BCE). To say it is a religion is wrong; to say it is not a religion is wrong; it is as it is taken, and has been for millenia. To deny that much of the Hindu literature is both useful and enjoyable as sage advice and as historical (and sometimes fantastical) fiction requires an outright dismissal of Gandhi, Oppenheimer, and many other very thoughtful and learned people throughout history. If you feel compelled to interpret the readings in a particular way, please do, but don't be so conceited as to imply that your conception is THE reality of the matter; it's just childish.